WWOM
WWOM is an ABC affiliate serving New Orleans, Louisiana. Broadcasting on channel 26, WWOM is owned and operated by Tribune Media. Launched as an independent, WWOM became an ABC affiliate in 1995, after a huge broadcasting realignment. WWOM runs a subchannel: 26.2 (For TNT Classics). History As an Independent Station The station first signed on the air on Monday, October 16, 1967. the station signed on at 5PM with a greeting by then-Mayor Victor H. Schiro, and its first program was the 1927 Al Jolson film The Jazz Singer. It was the first independent station in the state of Louisiana and the first commercial television station to sign Originally owned by David Wagenvoord, the station was only on the air for eight hours a day from late afternoon to midnight; its programming consisted mostly of older movies, some theatrical cartoon shorts and a few off-network syndicated programs. The station was sold to Communications Corp. of the South in 1971. Around this time, the station began running more off-network syndicated sitcoms and westerns, along with a moderate amount of cartoons. The station expanded its programming schedule to about 12 hours each day by 1972, then began signing on at 10:00 a.m. in 1974; WWOM expanded its daily programming hours to about 19 hours a day by 1975. The station was sold to Seymour Smith and his family in 1976, continuing to program a general entertainment format with vintage sitcoms, older movies and religious programs. WWOM began to be carried on many cable providers in southern Louisiana (including within the Baton Rouge market) during the 1970s. In 1981, WGNO also ran business news programming from the Financial News Network. From 1982 to 1987, WGNO aired a series of public service announcements featuring a character called "Tom Foote"; Tom was a local entertainer seen in area schools and in the French Quarter. For a time, the station produced an hour-long program called Tom Foote's Video Clubhouse, as well as News For Kids, produced by Foote. WWOM was purchased by Glendive Media in 1978, who would in turn sell the station to Tribune Broadcasting in 1983. Under Tribune, the station continued to grow, and WWOM remained the leading independent station in the market. WWOM reportedly turned down an offer by Fox to become a charter affiliate of the network, prior to its October 1986 launch. As a WB affiliate On November 2, 1993, the Warner Bros. Television division of Time Warner announced the formation of The WB Television Network, in which the Tribune Company held a minority ownership interest (initially 12.5%, before eventually expanding to 22%). As a result, Tribune affiliated the majority of its independent stations with the network as charter affiliates. This effectively ended WWOM's 28-year run as an independent station upon The WB's launch on January 11, 1995. At that time, The WB only offered a few hours of programming each week (airing only for two hours on Wednesday nights at the time of its launch, before adding a three-hour Sunday evening lineup, and a Monday-Saturday children's program block in September 1995); as a result, WWOM continued to run syndicated programming for the remainder of the broadcast day. As an ABC affiliate That same year, Burnham Broadcasting sold longtime New Orleans' ABC affiliate (WFNO) and three other stations to SF Broadcasting, a joint venture between Savoy Pictures and Fox, resulting in all four stations dropping their "Big Three" affiliations and joining Fox. On August 14, 1995, ABC signed a 10-year affiliation agreement with Tribune Broadcasting for WWOM to become its New Orleans affiliate, resulting in a three-way swap that resulted in WWOM becoming the market's new ABC affiliate, while the WB affiliation (along with cartoons and some syndicated programs that were part of WWOM inventory) moved to former Fox affiliate in New Orleans As a result of joining ABC, channel 26 became the second Tribune-owned station to switch to a "Big Three" network. As Hurricane Katrina approached the Louisiana coast in August 2005, WWOM's operations were moved to DuMont affiliate KHMA in their Baton Rouge location. For a time after the hurricane hit, the station's evening newscasts were produced out of various locations throughout the New Orleans area as the main studio at the World Trade Center New Orleans was inaccessible. WWOM eventually established temporary facilities (including a makeshift studio and control room) from two trailers outside of the Louisiana Superdome, with most of the station's broadcast equipment being purchased from eBay resellers. In April 2006, WWOM announced that its broadcast operations would temporarily relocate back to the World Trade Center building as New Orleans Centre management decided not to re-open the complex and terminated the station's lease agreement (WWOM had only moved into the facility a few weeks before Katrina hit the area). Programming Schedule Category:Channel 26 Category:New Orleans Category:ABC affiliated stations Category:Former WB network affiliates Category:Former independent stations Category:Tribune Broadcasting Category:Television channels and stations established in 1967 Category:Louisiana Category:Current ABC Affiliates